article, Part 2

The Future of Food Labelling

The Future of Food Labelling
Informed eating for a healthier tomorrow 
In an era where conscious consumer choices and health-conscious living are on the rise, the future of food labelling is continuously undergoing transformation. As part of the new EU Farm to Fork Strategy, the Regulations described in the article "Food Labels - What you should know" are currently under revision.  
The aim of this revision is to provide better labelling information to help consumers make healthier and more sustainable food choices and tackle food waste. 

Proposed changes in food labelling: 
●introducing harmonised mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling (Nutriscore) and setting nutrient profiling criteria to restrict claims made on foods; 
●extending mandatory origin or provenance information for certain products; 
●revising the rules on date marking (‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates). 

Nutrient profiling is one of the “hot” topics under this revision. Despite the fact that the use of nutrient profiles in making nutrition and health claims was regulated under Regulation 1924/2006, the relevant provisions never applied and stayed inactive. The nutrient profiling philosophy is that you cannot allow the use of nutrition and/or health claims in a food product where the threshold of fat, sugar and salt, exceeds a specified limit. The setting of nutrient profiles will facilitate the shift to healthier diets and stimulate food reformulation. 

Alignment with Europe's Beating Cancer Plan 
In addition, the proposed revision of the FIC Regulation will follow up on Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. Click here to download the pdf document. One of the 4 key action areas of this Plan is Prevention through actions addressing key risk factors such as tobacco (with the aim to ensure that less than 5% of the population uses tobacco by 2040), harmful alcohol consumption, environmental pollution and hazardous substances. Additionally, a ‘HealthyLifestyle4All' campaign will promote healthy diets and physical activity. 

The suggested proposal for revision mentions the introduction of mandatory indications of the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration for all alcoholic beverages. 

As food labeling evolves to empower consumers with better information and promote healthier, more sustainable choices, it becomes clear that these revisions are not just about what we see on packages but also about the impact they can have on our well-being, our environment, and the future of our food system. 


Author: Sofia Papakonstantinou, CreThiDev


References: 
EUFIC – Healthy living, https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION - DG SANTE Labelling & Nutrition, https://food.ec.europa.eu/safety/labelling-and-nutrition_en 
Hellenic Food Authority, www.efet.gr 


Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn
lang.german lang.english lang.greek lang.spanish lang.italian lang.portuguese lang.swedish

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.